NFL's Roger Goodell touts lighter helmets with sensors

1/1

Allison Joyce/Getty Images

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 11: Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League (NFL), speaks at a news conference March 11, 2013 New York City. Goodell and GE CEO Jeff Immelt introduce an initiative and research program to study concussions in an effort to improve the safety of professional football players.

NEW YORK — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell imagines a day in the not-too-distant future when players could be checked to determine whether their genetic makeup leaves them more likely to develop brain disease.

They then might be told to switch to a less dangerous position — or give up football.

“In talking to the medical experts over several years, I think there’s a predisposition to most injuries, particularly to the brain, or to brain disease,” Goodell said. “So we do want to know what those biomarkers are.”

Goodell also envisions players being required — with the union’s OK, of course — to wear helmets containing sensors to detect hits that cause concussions. Those helmets might be lighter and “less of a weapon” than today’s, he said.

Those are the kinds of advances the NFL and General Electric are hoping to produce in a partnership that could funnel up to $60 million over four years to research on head injuries and possible improvements to helmets.

Thousands of former players are suing the league and its teams, saying that for years the NFL did not do enough to protect players from concussions.

Such scrutiny “has no impact” on projects like the one with GE, Goodell said.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.